The Cyborg Life

You spend nineteen hours daily in awe of my mechanical majesty
My radiant robot face beaming light upon your spectacles
I fulfill your every desire, all information that you seek
Give a command and I’m there, though I admit an occasional glitch
Still I beg for some reciprocation—could you cleanse my robot face?
And the parts of me I use to talk can still feel that coffee stain
You’ve got me feeling bluer than my screen of death
It’s Saturday night, go out, human, and leave me to myself!

Egad, you cleansed my robot face, and my circuits feel brand new
You even turned the lights on so I have more things to view
You went out on no benders, you’ve no bigger fish to fry
Let me be your Hermes, your messenger god tonight
And as you fill my Cyclops eye, we will both sigh in delight
Like Farnsworth’s box to Americans, we will harmonize
Together we’re a cyborg, as much man as machine
Let’s enjoy our cyborg life as long as you can watch my screen.

Ben Simon is a poet and writer from San Luis Obispo. Two of his poems, "Multiple Meats" and "Peace Poem," have appeared in the local zine SWAP, and his poem "Stiffness Be Gone" is set to appear in Cal Poly's annual literary anthology Byzantium.